Sweetener is one of Ariana's most inconsistent albums. It feels a little all over the place and there are moments where it feels like it's shifting focus erratically. In this sense it's much like Ariana herself, which is exactly what makes Sweetener work; aside from it featuring some really good songs.
After 3 albums of glossy R&B and Pop hybrids which played by the Pop rule book down to a T, there was no real sense of who Ariana was at the end of it all. I'd listen to Yours Truly, My Everything and Dangerous woman and have no real sense of who Ariana was. There was disparity between the girl we would see in interviews and on our Twitter timelines and the girl who was singing these songs. Sweetener gives us Ariana as she is, as opposed the anybody pop star who happens to have a good voice. For better and for worse.
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